All publications herein are incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication or patent application was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference. The following description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
As a sustainable carbon-free clean energy, hydrogen generation has drawn increasing attention in recent years. Industrial approaches for hydrogen generation mainly include steam-reforming and water electrolysis. Steam-reforming technology utilizes natural gas as source, and therefore greenhouse gases will be generated. Water electrolysis does not have such problems. However, it has much lower efficiency due to the relatively high amount of external power needed. That is because Ohmic loss resulting from water resistivity between two electrodes will be very large, especially when current density is increasing. Meanwhile, many researches are focusing on photolysis water splitting, especially its material catalysis technology. However, it is still relatively inefficient for industrial applications and has only been applied in a laboratory setting.
There is clearly a need in the art for improved compositions, systems, articles of manufacture, and methods for facilitating water electrolysis and similar processes.